in plain sight.
“Alex Stone murdered Mr. Reed to avenge the deaths of Wilfred Donaire, Kyrie Chapman, and Jameer Henderson and his wife and two children and to silence Mr. Reed’s threats toward her girlfriend.
“Instead of upholding the law and protecting the rights of the accused, she broke the law and trampled on her client’s rights. Instead of trusting the criminal justice system she was sworn to uphold, she became a vigilante. And instead of letting the police protect her girlfriend, she murdered Dwayne Reed. That’s what happened, and that’s why we are here.”
Claire took a moment, studying the jury as Ortiz took his seat, their eyes following him before finding her, waiting for her to take center stage. She knew that people believed what they heard first and remembered what they heard last. Belief was better, because once the jury became anchored to a belief, it would be difficult to move them, even in the face of contradictory evidence. Memory was powerful but more subjective and malleable, but in that moment, she wanted to give them a lasting impression. She rose, taking her place in front of the lectern, closing the distance between her and the jury.
“As I listened to Mr. Ortiz,” she began, “I was struck most by the one thing he didn’t say-my client’s name, Alex Stone. Mr. Ortiz is far too experienced for this to have been a simple oversight. Not using Alex’s name is a way of making her less of a person. If you only know her as the defendant, it’s harder to understand what happened in Odyessy Shelburne’s living room. And your job, your duty, is to understand what happened and why. And to do that it’s important that you get to know Alex Stone.”
Claire turned toward Alex, who stood facing the jury. Kate had coached them for this moment. They couldn’t have known what Patrick Ortiz would say in his opening statement, but it was a given that he would try to dehumanize Alex so that the jury would not be sympathetic toward her. Failing to mention her by name was just one of the possibilities they had prepared for.
Kate instructed Alex to appear serious but also open and friendly.
“Alex was born and raised in Kansas City. Her mom and dad, Cindy and Herb, are sitting in the front row behind our table. Her brother, Steve, is a marine serving overseas. Alex’s life partner, Bonnie Long, isn’t here because she will be a witness and witnesses aren’t allowed in the courtroom until they testify.
“Alex was like a lot of kids growing up. She went to school, hung out with her friends, and thought about her future. But unlike a lot of kids, she knew from an early age that she wanted to be a lawyer. At first, her parents were surprised because there were no lawyers in their family. When they asked her why, she said that she wanted to help people.
“And that’s what she did. Mr. Ortiz said being a public defender was a lousy job because of the long hours and low pay. Alex never thought of her job in those terms. She only thought about how important her job was for the people she represented. She understood that the state could overwhelm someone who didn’t have a good lawyer. She knew that innocent people were sometimes convicted of crimes they didn’t commit, and she swore to do everything in her power to make certain that never happened to anyone she represented.
“She brought that commitment to her representation of Dwayne Reed. It didn’t matter that Dwayne was a member of a street gang. It didn’t matter that he was a drug dealer. It didn’t matter that he was accused of a horrible crime. The only thing that mattered was making certain he had the best representation she could give him. That’s what our Constitution guarantees. That’s what her duty required. And that’s who Alex Stone is.
“She is not someone who planned to murder Dwayne Reed. If exercising her constitutional right to own and carry a gun is proof that she did, then millions of Americans who own guns are one step away from being accused of a crime. If asking a judge to release her client from jail is proof that she did, then criminal defense lawyers all across this country should stop doing their job. These are very thin reeds for the prosecution to rely on. Sending Alex Stone to prison for the rest of her life requires more than that. So let’s talk about what happened in Odyessy Shelburne’s living room.”
Claire knew that this was a critical moment in her opening statement. She could limit her remarks to questioning Odyessy Shelburne’s credibility, reminding the jury that the state had the burden of proof and that Alex didn’t have to prove a thing. Or she could give the jury another version while also undermining Odyessy.
They hadn’t decided whether Alex would testify. If Claire told the jury Alex’s version, they would expect Alex to take the stand. If she didn’t, Ortiz would cram Claire’s words down her throat in his closing argument, reminding the jury that she had failed to prove what she’d promised to prove. They had debated both strategies for hours, deciding in the end that it was better to plant the seed of an alternative explanation, hoping that it would blossom into reasonable doubt, than to count on destroying Odyessy on cross-examination.
“Bonnie Long,” she continued, “told Alex that Dwayne Reed had threatened to rape her. Whether it was just bluster or a real threat didn’t matter, because Alex knew that her relationship with Bonnie and Dwayne’s threat had created a conflict of interest, making it impossible for her to continue to represent Dwayne.
“But she couldn’t walk away from him, not when he was about to be arraigned on the drug charge. So, she decided to wait until after Dwayne was arraigned before withdrawing as his lawyer.
“At his arraignment, she asked the judge to release him without bail because that’s what lawyers do for their clients. Had she not made that request, Dwayne could have used that to claim that she hadn’t represented him adequately if he was convicted. But it was the judge, not Alex, who made the decision to release him.
“Alex decided to tell Dwayne in person that she could no longer represent him. She went to his mother’s house because she knew that’s where she was likely to find him. Because Dwayne had threatened Bonnie Long and was a suspect in the murders of Kyrie Chapman and Jameer Henderson and his family, she took her gun with her. They talked and Dwayne became enraged. Alex tried to calm him down, but when he pulled his gun on her, she did what any reasonable person would have done when in fear for her life. She acted in self-defense.
“Could she have tried to get someone else to represent him at his arraignment? Could she have called him on the phone instead of going to his mother’s house? The answers to these questions are yes but are irrelevant to this case. The only question that matters is whether Alex Stone acted in self-defense.
“Our laws recognize that Alex Stone had every right to defend herself even if that meant using deadly force. Everyone’s life has value, including a drug-dealing gangster who is suspected of murdering five people. Dwayne Reed’s death is a tragedy no matter what he’d done or was suspected of doing. But his death isn’t the only tragedy in this case. The other tragedy is that he gave Alex Stone no choice.”
Claire gave the jury a final, firm look and returned to her seat. Judge West looked at the clock on the wall.
“Ladies and gentlemen, it’s now three o’clock. As important as this case is, I must attend to matters in another case, so we will be in recess until tomorrow morning at nine o’clock. Do not discuss this case among yourselves or with anyone else. Avoid any news reports concerning this case. I’ll see you in the morning.”
He banged his gavel and everyone rose as he left the courtroom. Alex grabbed Claire’s sleeve.
“That was great, but you made it pretty hard for me not to testify.”
“We knew that going in,” Mason said. “She had to give them another version. We can’t count on discrediting Odyessy Shelburne.”
“And the jury,” Kate said, “was paying attention. They didn’t take their eyes off of Claire.”
“So we’re in good shape?” Alex asked.
Claire raised her eyebrows. “Not until we know what Ortiz is so excited about that he refused to make a deal. If it’s as good as he’s letting me think it is, your testimony will make as much difference as a politician’s promise.”
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Detective Hank Rossi sat in his unmarked sedan up the street from the entrance to Chouteau Courts, sipping a cup of cold convenience store coffee while Patrick Ortiz and Claire Mason made their opening statements. It was his day off, and since the chief hadn’t lifted the ban on overtime, he was there on his own dime.
